Willing to receive Initiation from Swami Sadhanananda Giri

Those willing to have initiation from Swamiji are required to visit “Contact Us” page and submit request in prescribed form.

In the email : One needs to give information about his or her name, address & contact details, time & place of birth, gotra (for Hindus only), occupation, family details, some relevant details of life style etc along with scanned photograph. One should mention how he/she has come to know about Kriya Yoga etc. The photo should clearly show the face – the eyes & forehead.

If the seeker is already initiated from some other Guru Parampara, a written permission from the existing present Guru or, in case of Guruji is not in His material body any more, then from the present Head of that Guru Parampara is required.

Direction for Coming to Ashram

Location

Jujersa Yogashram is situated about 25 Km from the city of Kolkata (previously Calcutta), a metropolitan city to the east of India. The nearest rail station is Howrah/Sealdah. Trains of Eastern/South Eastern divisions of Indian Railway connect Howrah/Sealdah to all cities of India. The nearest Airport is Kolkata International Airport.

Direction to reach Jujersa Yogashram

From Esplanade, Kolkata

i) By Calcutta Tram Company (CTC) Bus : Board Esplanade – Amta or Esplanade-Ranihati CTC bus. Drop at Dhulagorh (approx. 20Km, 60 minutes). Dhulagore is situated on National Highway 6 (Mumbai Road). It is a four point crossing. The road towards left goes to Sankrail Railway Station (2Km) & the road towards right goes to Jujersa (5.6Km).

From Dhulagore, board Howrah-Jujersa mini bus & it will directly take you to Jujersa – Manikpeertola (approx. 5.6 KM, 20 minutes). The Ashram is opposite Manikpeertola – the Samadhi of a Muslim fakir.

ii) By Car : If coming from central Kolkata or south Kolkata, it is better to go through the 2nd Hooghly Bridge (Vidyasagar Setu). From the toll plaza of the bridge, which is on the Howrah side, take Kona Expressway and go straight for eight Km. It will meet Mumbai Road (National Highway No. 6). The meeting point of the Kona Expressway with Mumbai Road has a big fly over. Take left lane to enter into Mumbai Road and go straight towards Uluberia for 8 Km to reach Dhulagore. From Dhulagore, take right turn leaving Mumbai Road. Go to Jujersa – Manikpeertola (approx. 5.6 Km). It takes about 60 minutes from Esplanade Tram Depot/Curzon Park. The Ashram is opposite to Manikpeertola – the Samadhi of a Muslim fakir.

From Howrah Station

Take South Eastern Railway local train to reach (trains usually start from platform no. 12/13/14/15)

i) Mourigram Railway Station – (12 Km, 5th station from Howrah, 25 minutes). Take Howrah-Jujersa mini bus & it will directly take you to Jujersa-Manikpeertola (approx. 11 KM, 40 minutes)

Initiation for family men

It is recommended that both husband & wife should take initiation together and ideally practice together. However, with Guruji’s permission one of the members of the family can get initiated first and the other member may seek initiation subsequently.

The need of a Sadguru

A sincere seeker must learn to practice Kriya Yoga from a Sadguru after receiving initiation in the traditional way. Kriya Yoga cannot be learnt by reading books or magazines or lessons. Reading books and attending yoga classes definitely gives an overview of yoga practices and its benefits. However, Only a Sadguru can bestow the full knowledge of yoga and self- realization to a true seeker. One may start learning yoga from anyone, but the real bliss eludes him till he gets blessings from a Sadguru. This is not just a theory but empirical fact as seen in the life stories of so many Sadhaka or realized souls in India.

Before seeking initiation, the seeker must ensure that the teacher from whom he is seeking initiation is a Sadguru. As Sri Ramakrishna has pointed out, an incapable Guru & an incapable disciple are problem to each other! But the Sadguru is like the most venomous snake, whose bite will definitely end the mortal sufferings of the disciple within three life spans!

The need of complete surrender to the Guru

For obtaining blessing from Sadguru to progress in the path of Sadhana, complete surrender at the Lotus feet of Guruji is mandatory. There is no exception of this rule.

The disciple must practice Kriya with heart full of respect and sense of complete surrender towards Guru and this is the only condition for progress in the path of Self realization. Without sense of complete surrender, no matter how long one practices, nothing is achieved in the spiritual field.

Lahiri Mahasaya’s Five Advices for Kriyabans

With elucidation by Swami Sadhanananda Giri (initalics)

Consider yourself humble. You are connected to every soul. Pray and serve and always remember you are small(inconsequential). You are His sevak (servant). You are connected to everybody. It isnot a physical connection but connection of prana.

At intervals, meet together and collectively discuss spiritual topics. You can discuss sadhana experiences with your Gurubrothers and sisters only.

Never disrespect any name or form of the Divine.

Every year, for one month, remain away from your house, family, near and dear ones. If not possible for one month; at least a fortnight or one week or minimum three days. During this time do sadhana, kriyas, meditate, japas, etc. You should not spend this time idly or simply in chitchat.

The need of Sadhana

The world in which we are living is full of animate and inanimate objects. All of them have some frequencies and are generating waves some way or other. We, the living creatures capture some of these frequencies with the help of our sensory organs, analyse them and then build up the perception about the world around us.

This is an absolute individualistic approach. Due to this reason, the world for a human being is different from that of animals, insects, sea creatures, etc. Even in the case of human beings, the world to a blind, a colour blind or a deaf differs from one another.

It is also seen that even with five entirely functional sensory organs, different persons develop dissimilar perceptions about this world. The reason behind this difference is mind which acts as the ultimate analyser. Mind plays the major role about integrating the inputs from the sensory organs & thus understanding the world. Depending upon the place, time and parties attached with an incident taking place, the magnitude of three gunas – swatta, raja and tama varies in our mind. Due to these ever changing characteristics of mind, the same incident has different influence on the minds of different human beings. It is a part of our expressions where logic takes the back seat and intuition, emotion etc. takes charge of it.

As per prevalent conception, the knowledge we grasp after reading text books is only partial. In reality it is the idea of truth or absolute knowledge of any subject. We read these books with our mind submersed in material world where the influences of three gunas swatta, raja and tama are very high and constantly changing. This mind under the influence of swatta, raja and tama is equivalent to a mirror covered with thick dust layer which does not reflect the true image of anything.

With the help of pranayama or sadhana one can develop control over his breathing. With regular practice of sadhana gradually the influence of swatta, raja and tama on the mind gets reduced and the fully controlled state of mind – called the trigunatita state arises. In this state the cleansed mind works like a perfect mirror and able to reflect all cosmic frequencies surrounded us. This mind can perceive the true and absolute knowledge about this universe.

Swami Vivekananda also said that ‘Religion is the manifestation of Realization’.

We, with our materialistic mind try to analyze the absolute knowledge affirmed by the enlightened sages. Eventually we fail to understand them and try to establish them as fools. We, with our trusted logical mind (the ego!), try to deny the fact that we are like a baby with the knowledge of A, B, C, D only in the field of this vast consciousness. With proper guidance from a Sadguru and with the help of sadhana, if we can enlighten our mind, we will definitely be able to realise what our enlightened ancestors have said. Then there will be no sorrows and sufferings in this world.

Time for practice

One needs to devote at least one hour in the morning & one hour in the evening to practice Kriya pranayama at the beginning. If one cannot devote one hour, at least half an hour in both the sessions is needed to get optimum result. The practice must be regular & done with a sense of complete surrender to the Guru.

Place for practice

One needs to practice sadhana in a closed room in his home. The room should ideally be dimly lit. Then the jyoti (the light) or the nada (the sound of Oum) etc. will be revealed well.

Kriya should never be practiced in public, not even before family members who are non-initiated.

Visiting the Guru

As per advise of Sri Lahiribaba, it is mandatory for a disciple to visit his Guru at least for three days in a year, perform Guruseva & receive His advise verbally. This tradition is very much in place in Jujersa Yogashram. However in this regard Guruji’s decision is final.

Checking of Kriya from Guruji

It is customary for everyone to get the Kriya verified from the Guru Himself at suitable intervals – at least once in six months. Sometimes, Guruji Himself asks a disciple to perform Kriya before Him to check if it’s proper. One with his gradual advancement in the practice of Kriya gets further advanced Kriyas from Guruji. However, the time gap between getting initiated into different levels of Kriya depends on Guruji alone and varies widely from disciple to disciple.

Often it is seen that Guruji himself informs a disciple that his practice is progressing properly or needs slight modification. His disciples from distant places very often get His advice over the phone, if He allows it.

States of Sadhana

A sadhaka has to pass through a few states while in taking the journey of sadhana. And throughout the path he has to face innumerable obstacles. Sometimes it seems that one’s problems in every sphere of life grew bigger after initiation! But the disciple develops the most powerful weapon to fight these obstacles – the power of rational or logical thought and interpretation – by virtue of his practices. This gives him such inner strength that he easily tides over all the crises with ease. And the omnipresent help from the Gurusakti is always there to help him.

Worshipping of Idols

Everything in this world consists of two aspects – one external & the other internal. In the sphere of sadhana also these two aspects are present. Idol worship, pilgrimages, fasting, taking holy dip in the Ganga, verbal japa etc. are all the external facets of sadhana. Atmakarma or pranayama is internal sadhana. A living being gradually uplifts in successive births. The compassionate sages have introduced external sadhana because all men do not have the insight. By regularly practicing external sadhana, a living being will be purified after several births and will be able to gain introspective vision of internal sadhana. Then he will be deemed fit to obtain internal sadhana or pranayama and by executing this inner sadhana can finally reach the self – realized state.

Differences in Kriya Yoga practices in different lineages

Lahiri Mahasaya customized Kriya practices according to the needs of individual disciples. The Guru knows what is best for the disciple & he has the authority to prescribe the best for him.

When some of these disciples of Lahiri Baba themselves became men of great knowledge & had disciples, they preached Kriya as exactly taught by Lahiri baba to them. Hence these differences have persisted till today. But the basic structure of Kriya is same.

If the Kriya Yoga practice in Jujersa Yogashram is exactly original to what Swami Sriyukteswar taught to his disciples?

We need to explain these as very often we receive emails from people from different countries of the world, asking whether Swami Sadhanananda Giri teaches the original Kriya, which disciples of Swami Sriyukteswar-ji practised.

As Swami Bhabananda Giri was a disciple of the Swami Sriyukteswar Giri, the practice of Kriya in Jujersa Yogashram is exactly same what Sriyukteswar-ji learnt from Lahiri Baba & later prescribed to his disciples. Swami Bhabananda was very strict to maintain the tradition of Kriya practice & the same aspect we see in Swami Sadhanananda Giri also. They never allow any deviation from the original. That way the techniques of Kriya practiced at Jujersa Yogashram is the same what Swami Bhabananda received from Swami Sriyukteswar-ji.

Miraculous powers of a Yogi

While advancing in sadhana, a yogi develops miraculous powers, called bibhuti. Such miraculous powers are generally sub-divided into eight groups :